Causeway Coast & Glens Council to look at repairing Benone boardwalks
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough councillors have agreed to the first steps in repairing boardwalks at Benone.
Members of December’s Leisure and Development Committee approved the advancement to Stage 1 of the Council’s Capital Works Process – a scoping project and outline designs – for the repair and replacement of boardwalks in the Benone duneland.
According to an officers’ report, the duneland at Benone is served by a network of paths, including 1,010 metres is wooden boardwalk, which forms part of Magilligan Special Area of Conservation.
The existing timber boardwalks were part of the original development of the site in 1987, with an additional section of boardwalk introduced in 2004.
“There are three separate sections of boardwalk,” the report added. “The boardwalks are Marram Way, Longboard Way, and Kestrel Way. Over time, the boardwalks have deteriorated significantly due to the exposed nature of the coastline and natural processes.
“The condition of the boardwalks now poses safety and maintenance concerns, necessitating the removal and replacement of one boardwalk entirely and repairs to sections of the other two boardwalks.”
A council officer said the proposal was to investigate removing the entirety of the Marram Way section and replacing it with a slightly shorter boardwalk, while parts of both Longboard Way and Kestrel Way may be salvageable and may not need replaced.
“That’s something will be looked at as part of the Stage 1 assessment,” they added. “Two options are for consideration depending on the scoping assessments; repair with full replacement of the entire system estimated at £285,000, and partial replacement at £153,500.
"It’s recommended that committee recommends the approval of progression to stage 1 of the process, i.e. option 2, and aim for the lower cost option subject to full scoping and design costing."
DUP Alderman Aaron Callan said the boardwalks were very popular and members “constantly” received queries about their repair. He asked how quickly the scoping exercise could be completed. The officer said they hoped to have it completed within two months.
“We want to be taking a report back before and the end of March,” they concluded. “To allow us to progress subject to elected members’ approval for whatever is the best option.”
Members voted unanimously in favour of the proposal to carry out a scoping exercise.